Beauty In The Beast

by Erik Schubach

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  Novels by Erik Schubach ---------------------------------------------- Books in the Techromancy Scrolls series... Adept Soras Masquerade Westlands (2017) Avalon (2018) Books in the Urban Fairytales series... Red Hood: The Hunt Snow: The White Crow Ella: Cinders and Ash Rose: Briar's Thorn Let Down Your Hair Hair of Gold: Just Right The Hood of Locksley Beauty In the Beast No Place Like Home Books in the Djinn series... Cursed Books in the Drakon series... Awakening Dragonfall Books in the Valkyrie Chronicles series... Return of the Asgard Bloodlines Folkvangr Seventy Two Hours Titans Books in the Bridge series... Trolls Traitor Unbroken Books in the Fracture series... Divergence ------------------------------------------------- Novellas by Erik Schubach ------------------------------------------------- The Hollow Books in the Paranormals series... Fleas This Sucks Jinx (2017) Short stories in the Fixit Adventures... Fixit Glitch Vashon (2017) Descent (2017) ------------------------------------------------- Short Stories by Erik Schubach (These short stories span many different genres) ------------------------------------------------- A Little Favor Lost in the Woods Rift Jumpers: Faster Than Light Scythe Snack Run Something Pretty ------------------------------------------------------ Romance Novels by Erik Schubach ------------------------------------------------------ Books in the Music of the Soul universe... (All books are standalone and can be read in any order) Music of the Soul A Deafening Whisper Dating Game Karaoke Queen Silent Bob Five Feet or Less Broken Song Syncopated Rhythm Progeny Girl Next Door Lightning Strikes Twice June Dead Shot Music of the Soul Shorts... (All short stories are standalone and can be read in any order) Misadventures of Victoria Davenport: Operation Matchmaker Wallflower Accidental Date Holiday Morsels Books in the London Harmony series... (All books are standalone and can be read in any order) Water Gypsy Feel the Beat Roctoberfest Small Fry Doghouse Minuette Squid Hugs The Pike Flotilla Books in the Pike series... (All books are standalone and can be read in any order) Ships In The Night Right To Remain Silent Books in the Flotilla series... (All books are standalone and can be read in any order) Making Waves Keeping Time (2017) Sample chapter from Fixit (Fixit Adventures: Book 1)... Chapter 1 – Just Another Day I looked at Glitch and the phase coupler he held with his grappler. I grinned and shook my head at the silly orb shaped maintenance pinger who was digging through the 'boneyard' with me, as we scavenged the sprawling junkyard of broken agricultural pingers. “No, you silly boy, we need a J9 phase inverter, not a coupler.” I sighed, what's a girl to do? He peered at me with his ocular lens that was centered in his spherical body. His lens looked between me and the coupler in his grappler, and then he trundled a little closer on his rubberized metal tank treads, random power sparking from loose connections between his mobility platform and his body. I'd have to fix that again. He extended his grappler with the part, like a puppy giving a ball to his master. I patted his faded yellow dome and then asked patiently, “Glitch, is that an inverter?” He looked at it again and then turned his body side to side slightly, mimicking shaking his head. I grinned and asked, “Is that a coupler?” His body swiveled forward and back on his servo. “And what are we looking for?” The glitchy pinger looked at the part again and then he visibly drooped as sparks arced from an exposed panel on his side. Now that just wasn't fair, playing with my emotions like that. I sighed and took the coupler from him and said, “I guess it doesn't hurt to have a spare coupler or two hanging around the shop.” He seemed to brighten at that, and I patted his dome again. “Okay, now let's find that inverter shall we? I have to get that damn harvester running before breakfast, or we will miss our grain quota for the month. And I have never missed a quota.” He pivoted on his tracks and started toward an old Mark 5 combine. I called back to him, “Inverter, Glitch.” He paused and pivoted toward me, looking embarrassed with his lens looking down slightly. Then he sped off like a pinger on a mission. I chuckled at him and resumed my own search. Glitch was my oldest friend down here in pinger maintenance. Don't look at me like that. I know my friends are all machines, and you think they don't have personalities? You are wrong. Look at Glitch and tell me that he doesn't understand me beyond the constraints of his programming. I opened an access panel on a relic of a Mark 4, while I reasoned that a J8 phase inverter would do in a pinch if I regulated the flow with a capacitor. Parts were getting more and more scarce down here dirtside. I glared up at the majestic city hovering a mile above the surface of Tau Ceti Prime. New Terra. They really needed to replenish our replacement part stockpile. One day I would have enough credits squirreled away to pay for a temp to keep the automatons harvesting while I take a couple day vacation up there. I can't imagine the wonders in the floating city, my mother told me that if I worked hard, that one day it might be possible. Not many dirters, as they call us, ever get to see the network of floating cities. They had to be spectacular, with adventures just waiting to happen. I shouted, “Ah ha! Glitch, get over here, I have two viable inverters!” With a delighted squee, he came speeding over as I patted one of the two drum shaped cylinders about the size of my head. Glitch secured one in his grappler as I took out my multi-tool and went about detaching it. Then we did the same with the second. I put them in the carry-sack strapped across the shoulder of Glitch's grappler. Then I stood on his mobility platform, lowered my goggles, and he wrapped his grappler around my waist. “Home Glitch.” Moments later we were rolling across the ground at high speed, sparks trailing us as he let out a long, happy squeal. I smiled into the wind generated by our speed as I watched the oceans of crops pass by, the mammoth pingers moving slowly through them, either tending them or harvesting. God, I loved this place. A couple minutes later we sped into the huge open bay door to my quonset hut repair shop. Three harvesters and two tenders waited there for me to fix so they could get back out to the fields. A couple maintenance pingers looked up from their tasks as I waved at them as I hopped off of Glitch. Blip waved back, the motion causing him to get off balance and he fell onto his side with a “Blip!” I chuckled at him as he righted himself and went back to work. I stepped up to the harvester I was working on and patted it soundly on a huge tire. “Okay, Turk, let's get you back to work shall we?” I stepped under him to the open access panel and the crooked my finger at him and motioned him closer. The huge pinger lowered on his suspension, but I couldn't quite reach. I looked up at the visual port he had craned under his massive body to see me, the segmented aperture spiraled in the ocular lens, constricting so his iris focused on me. I squinted one eye at the silly guy and crooked my finger again just a little. He pushed his wheels farther out and lowered his suspension almost to the lowest point of his limiters so that I could reach inside. I pulled out one of the salvaged inverters, then dug into a tool box at my side and found an old dusty inductor. After a little soldering and then creative mating of the older unit with the J9 assembly, with Glitch handing me the tools I needed, then there was a huge hum of power, and Turk seemed to brighten up. I secured the panel and then thumped his belly twice with a grin. “You are good to go, Turk. Remember to come back in three days, though, I need to change your hydraulic fluid, it is looking pretty nasty. Just what are you getting into in the fields?” He rose up on his suspension, and the massive machine seemed to playfully rock side to side to test his servos before engaging the motors on the enormous tires which were almost two stories tall. He was careful not to roll over me like he was on tippy toes as he headed back out to the fields. He paused at the door, pivoted back toward me for a second his iris refocusing, then off he went. Now you tell me if that wasn't appreciation. They are more than just machines, my pingers, I dare you to say differently. I wiped the grease off my hands with a rag and sighed, just another day in my life. Oh, me? Vega Hasher, but everyone just calls me Fixit. Daughter to Gemma before her passing. I looked at Glitch and said, “There, now let's see what I can scrounge up for breakfast. Why don't you go see if Blip needs any help.” Glitch nodded then sparked off toward his fellow maintenance pinger. That... is
when the call came in.